MONTREAL — Hydro-Québec has released a report suggesting it may need to import electricity from neighbouring provinces or the United States within the next three years. The state-owned utility’s new supply plan for 2027—2041 projects an “extremely high” increase in the demand for energy in the coming years. The utility expects this demand could cause it to face energy deficits as early as 2029. Hydro-Québec anticipates that Quebec’s electricity demand will increase by 60 terawatt-hours by 2041, representing an increase of over 30 per cent. The supply plan shows expected growth in demand for the electrification of transportation, data centres, and for energy retrofits of buildings that currently rely on fossil fuels. The report paints a picture of a province with an ever-increasing appetite for electricity, which will require “unprecedented” investments to satisfy its customers’ needs. “We need the new generation assets to come online, because if we’re not able to build new generation capacity, demand will rise and production won’t keep up. And that’s when we’ll run into a problem,” said Dave Rhéaume, the company’s executive vice president in charge of energy strategy, in an interview. This scenario is based on “normal” conditions, said Rhéaume. The exceptionally dry weather of the past three years is already forcing Hydro-Québec to manage its reservoirs cautiously. To meet demand, the state-owned utility plans to add 24,000 megawatts of generation capacity by 2041. It is also focusing on energy efficiency, aiming to achieve savings of 21 terawatt-hours by 2035. Hydro-Québec will not be turning to nuclear energy to meet increasing energy demand for now, but the utility is keeping that option open long-term, said Rhéaume. “We don’t need to be the first to stumble with a new technology,” he said. “We should use the advantage we have to learn from others.” The Carney administration has said it wants to revive the nuclear industry in Canada. No power plant has been built in Canada since the early 1990s, and the deployment of next-generation nuclear projects is still in its early stages. “We’ll see what it costs,” said Rhéaume. “We’ll see how it works. So, that will be a point of interest.” Currently, Canada has four nuclear power plants — three in Ontario and one in New Brunswick — which generate about 15 per cent of the country’s electricity. Ottawa announced in June its intention to build up to ten new nuclear reactors over the next fifteen years. “We have to continue to monitor the development of all energy sectors to see how we can continue to serve Quebec,” he said. --- With files from Stéphane Rolland This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 3, 2026.
